Montclair State University opened in 1908 as the New Jersey State Normal School at Montclair. It originally offered two-year teacher training courses. It was the first institute in the United States to develop a four year programme in pedagogy, the first in New Jersey to offer master’s degrees and the first to broadcast educational television programmes.

Montclair State has seven academic divisions: the College of the Arts, the College of Education and Human Services, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the College of Science and Mathematics, the Feliciano School of Business, the School of Nursing and The Graduate School.

The university has a reputation for education, business and arts teaching. 

The College of Arts teaches a broad range of programmes, from illustration to television. Two specialist schools, the John J Cali School of Music and the School of Communication and Media, are housed within the College of Arts. The noted string quartet the Shanghai Quartet has been in residence at the music school since 2002.

The university baseball stadium is named after Yogi Berra, the Hall of Fame catcher for the New York Yankees who graduated from Montclair State. Other notable alumni include actor Bruce Willis, My Chemical Romance guitarist Ray Toro and The Simpsons writer Michael Price.

Montclair State’s campus is known for its green credentials. It is based in Upper Montclair, a New Jersey neighbourhood with several parks, reserves and public gardens.